Sneak Peak
by giovanbronckhorst
Summary: Teddy’s diary poses Harry a question from inside his godson’s mind: What were my mum and dad like?


**Sneak Peak**

Disclaimer: I asked. They all said no.

Centric character(s): Harry Potter & Teddy Lupin.

Summary: Teddy's diary poses Harry a question from inside his godson's mind: _What were my mum and dad like? _

A/N: This is my very first attempt at a Harry Potter story, so please don't crucify me if it's terrible. I'd really appreciate reviews once you've read to let me know what was good and what I can improve on. Constructive criticism helps so much, but no flames please. Anyway, happy reading!

*****

Laying a nodded off, five year old Teddy Lupin down in his bed, Harry tucked him in tightly. The 22 year old godfather kissed his forehead gently before scraping a stray strand of bright blue air behind his little ear. Blue seemed to be Teddy's favorite choice of hair colour at the moment, with green coming up a close second. While the abrupt changes of feature reminded Harry so much of Tonks, he couldn't get over how much like Remus he really looked underneath.

"Goodnight, little man," Harry whispered as he backed out of the room slowly and quietly. Making sure to leave the door ajar just a fraction, Harry crept downstairs to fetch himself a glass of water before he joined Ginny in their bedroom.

With a gently flick of his wand a tumbler flew from the cupboard and filled itself with water from the tap. It hovered over to Harry's hand and allowed the wizard to drain it before throwing itself into the soapy water filled bowl in the sink, ready for washing. With a lazy wave of his wand and a few words, the washing would do itself and be put away, but Harry was too exhausted for even that at the moment. Teddy was a very energetic boy and could run circles around the two adults in the house, until Harry finally managed to get him down to sleep at 11:30. _Guess I shouldn't have given him all that sugar on those strawberries_, Harry thought to himself. Ginny had ventured up to bed long before Teddy had run out of energy, leaving Harry to get him to bed.

Before his feet wandered up the stairs to his cosy bed, Harry gazed around his usually neat sitting room. Taking in its now two-day-Teddy-Lupin-attacked state, Harry couldn't fit the chuckle that escaped from his lips. That boy sure could make a mess. The blue carpet was barely visible under the assault of Teddy's toys and the rest of his things cluttered the dresser and windowsill.

Despite the state of his house, Harry was loving Teddy's visit. The youngster had been away with Andromeda for two weeks prior to the visit while godfather and godson missed each other terribly. As soon as they were home it was decided that Teddy _must _stay with Harry and Ginny for at least a week to make up for the time missed.

As Harry's eyes searched the floor, they rested on Teddy's little trunk at the foot of the staircase. Harry had stepped over it on his way down, but Ginny was unaware of its presence there and would undoubtedly have an accident. The famous Potter took gentle steps forward, hoping not to stand on any pointy parts of Teddy's toys and easily lifted the small case, debating on where to put it. Teddy's room would probably be a good idea, he decided.

As he lifted, Harry felt the fastenings to the trunk become looser. Gripping the other side of the lid in order to keep it together, Harry hauled it towards the bedrooms. Ginny often wondered aloud why Harry did a lot of the manual work unaided by magic. Harry found that after living the majority of his early life with Muggles, sometimes he had to do things himself. And carrying a trunk wasn't hard anyway.

Approaching Teddy's bedroom, Harry used his foot to kick the door open more and made his way to the foot of Teddy's bed. As he shifted his grip on the trunk the lid fell out of his hold and swung down towards the floor. Harry didn't have a chance to grab his wand and react; Teddy's belongings had hit the floor in seconds. Harry hoped the noise wouldn't wake his godson and was now thinking that perhaps he _should _have used magic to transport the trunk.

With a sigh, knowing his bed just got a little further away, Harry bent down to pick up the various items. After shoving a few toys, books (packed by Andromeda against Teddy's wishes) and clothes back into the open trunk, Harry came across a small book, bound in leather with Teddy's name on the front. Without thinking, Harry first imagined Tom Riddle's diary and nearly tossed the book away from his body, before coming to notice Teddy's name on it. Coming to a conclusion of what it was Harry glanced at his godson's form: in as deep a sleep as was possible.

"Should I?" Harry questioned himself.

Not waiting for his conscience to kick in, Harry flicked open the cover and was met by the familiar scrawl that was Teddy's writing. He had drawn stick figures of his grandmother, Harry, Ginny and himself, holding hands and dancing in a circle. Harry smiled when he saw it. Flicking through the pages, Harry didn't find anything particularly striking. There were little comments here and there about what he had done on holiday with his grandma and how he missed his Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny.

As he reached nearer the back of the little journal, Harry was stopped suddenly. He had seen one word that caught his attention: daddy. Opening the page fully, Harry read what he knew was not for his eyes.

_I miss my mummy and daddy. I was too little when they went away to remember them, but I love them still. Maybe they didn't love me and that's why they went away. I wanted to ask grandma about my mummy and daddy but I think it might make her sad. I don't like making my grandma sad so I won't ask her. Uncle Harry has lots of pictures of my mummy and daddy and they always smile, but there aren't any of me with my mum and dad so I don't know if they love me. Uncle Harry says it's because when I was born everyone was really busy trying to make it safe so there wasn't a lot of time to get pictures. I think it's because they didn't want to see me in the pictures. Even if they don't love me, I still love them. I hope they might come back one day if I'm a good boy and I can tell them I love them. I'd like that. _

_I might ask Uncle Harry about my mummy and daddy. If he gets upset though, they might not come back because I made their friend cry. _

Harry stopped reading. This feeling was very similar to the one that Harry got when he accidentally walked through a ghost during his time at Hogwarts. It felt like a bucket of cold water had descended over him and seized his heart, freezing it. He lifted a hand to wipe away the tears that were collecting in his eyes and returned the journal to the trunk.

Besides the horrible feeling Harry got from reading Teddy's thoughts written on the page like that, he was also rather surprised. He didn't know Teddy thought things like that, or that he could write like that either. He was only five!

Being only five, Harry and Andromeda had agreed that it was necessary to tell Teddy about his parents' deaths in an age-appropriate manner, but that seemed to have not gone to plan. Harry's explanation had been "your mummy and daddy have gone to Heaven to be with the angels."

Maybe that didn't quite suffice for his godson. Harry had never explained that his mum and dad couldn't come back from Heaven or that they had actually died. And he seemed to have overlooked something very important- telling Teddy that his parents loved him.

Looking back over to his godson once more, Harry smiled sadly. "Sleep tight, buddy. We'll talk in the morning."

With that, Harry finally made it to his own bed and fell into a troubled sleep beside his already sleeping fiancée.

*****

The next morning, Teddy woke as his usual energetic, happy self and if Harry had not read his diary, he wouldn't have known anything was wrong.

While Ginny set about preparing breakfast, Harry sat in his armchair and called over Teddy.

"You wanna play a game, Uncle Harry?" he asked excitedly.

"In a little bit, Teddy, ok? Right now, I just wanna have a quick chat with you." Harry patted his leg in a welcoming fashion and the little one jumped up onto it. "Well, I realised there's a lot of things I've never spoken to you about, so maybe you'd like to ask some questions?"

Teddy seemed confused for a minute and didn't reply. "Maybe about your mum and dad?" Harry prompted.

Teddy immediately stared down into his hands, as if he wanted to know, but didn't want to ask. Harry, taking the hint, began to speak.

"Your mum and dad were very, very brave people. They saved my life lots of times and I could never begin to thank them enough. But, like everyone, they died. They died in a very brave way though, and they saved even more people. After they died they went up to Heaven to be with the angels, and while they'll always take care of you, they can't come back." Harry felt his heart twinge a little more as the small smile dropped from his godson's face. "But," Harry continued, "your parents love you _so_ much. You meant the world to them and they didn't want to leave you. There was nothing more important to them than you. And now that they're angels, they're always with you."

"Can I see them and hear them?" Teddy asked hopefully.

"No, but you can talk to them. They won't be able to answer back, but they'll hear you."

Teddy nodded slowly and looked his godfather in the eye. "Can I go play now, Uncle Harry?"

Harry wasn't sure what to make of the question. Should he let him go or check he was ok with everything?

"Go on then," Harry conceded, allow the boy to jump from his lap. Harry remained in his place, mulling over what he had said to the boy, wondering if it covered everything. When Ginny declared that breakfast was ready, Harry ventured to the kitchen, passing the backdoor as he went. Outside, he saw Teddy sat in a shaded corner by himself. The older man stopped and listened intently when he saw Teddy's lips move.

"Mummy, daddy? I love you."

*****


End file.
